I've been mainly disappointed with the performance of .357 Magnum JHPs on deer and wild boar, but then I am pretty picky. Like Elmer Keith; "I like to do *all* of my hunting *before* I shoot."
That said, I did have good results with the Barnes Vor-TX 140 gr in a 6" barrel - in fact got two deer with one shot (the second was totally unintentional and, frankly embarrassing that I did not notice it behind the first one).
Mind you I had already shot one of them with that load through both lungs at 60 yards and it ran closer to me, not knowing where I was.
Still that is about the best performance I've seen. Barring that, in factory ammo, the Silver Tip seems OK (thought not for really big animals like bear or moose) and Winchester 158 JHP seems to be a fairly hot load - it does expand (a friend shot a wild boar 4 times with that load and 3 of them stayed in - it was not a big boar (maybe dressed 150 lbs). All 4 hit the heart (they were shot over a time of about 30 seconds and he even had time to reload his revolver - but did not shoot after that since we noticed the boar was getting pretty wobbly on his feet).
I would probably second the above recommendations for a good hard cast flat point bullet - either SWC or Wide Flat Nose (WFN) - if you don't handload I think Buffalo Bore and Underwood make them.
Going that way I'd even consider .38 Spl. - I had a 173 gr. SWC loaded to 900 fps go through an 18" stack of wet newsprint and then 4" more into soft dirt - typical .357 125 JHPs are doing well to get 7" penetration into wet newsprint (Cor-bon DPX and some of the medium loads do a little better).
While I like to let out a lot of blood and let in a lot of air, adequate penetration with excellent placement seems to be the key to success in stopping critters (both 2 and 4 legged) the fastest. Rapidly expanding bullets sure put the kibosh on penetration.
Good luck in your quest!
Riposte1
Let's be real, sometimes while out in the woods, say hunting, you want to be as quiet & stealthy as able. OR you may be walking along staring at your feet & momentarily forget to watch EXACTLY where you put each and every step. The snake chaps mfgr's & people that wear them ARE ALL WRONG??? Granted the mountains of northern Co may not be rattler central, & I DO NOT advocate killing EVERY snake EVERYWHERE, just the poisonous ones posing a threat to me, dogs, livestock or invading MY territory. YES when in known snake country, (& pretty much everywhere) it would be wise to be careful where you place your hands & feet. If bitten it would be a good thing to be able to have the culprit to show the medics, what type of snake bit you. I'm not convinced snakeshot has the penetration to kill a big snake. Easier to hit it, YES.
